'21st Century Robot' -- New From Maker Media

SEBASTOPOL, CA--(Marketwired - Dec 18, 2014) - The goal is simple: To create 7 billion robots. The method is elaborate: Use a manifesto, four science fiction stories, several worldwide adventures, a serious dose of 3D printing, plenty of open source technology, the efforts of a first grade class, and a socially precocious bot named Jimmy to bring that vision to life.

What is going on?

An audacious experiment in storytelling that weaves science fiction stories into a real-life narrative scarcely guessed at in the 20th century, 21st Century Robot (Maker Media: $24.99) is a call to action for all of us to embrace and guide the exciting technological possibilities of our era.

Written by professional futurist Brian David Johnson, this book details the evolution of Jimmy, a walking, talking robot just like the one you should have. Just like the one we all should -- and will, one day -- have to assist and charm us.

Johnson created Jimmy through a series of short stories, using his imagination to fire up the imaginations of the scientists, engineers, academics, and designers who helped bring Jimmy to life. 21st Century Robot will make you want to create your own robot -- and it will show you how.

This book is dedicated to the generation of young minds who will never know a time when they couldn't imagine, design, build, program, and share their own robots. What will our lives be like when robots are as common and normal as smartphones, tablets, and TVs? We're on the cusp of that future. It's up to you.

What will your 21st Century Robot do?

Advance praise for 21st Century Robot:"In the 20th century there was science fiction about the potential consequences of human-like robots. Now in the twenty-first century we are close to the real thing and the benefits and risks loom large. Brian David Johnson's 21st Century Robot is a bridge from fiction to oncoming reality." -- VERNOR VINGE, Hugo Award-winning novelist

"Johnson's work is smart and full of human-scale compassion and context for an almost unimaginably vast and weird future." -- CORY DOCTOROW, author, activist, journalist, blogger

About Brian David JohnsonThe future is Brian David Johnson's business. As a futurist he develops an actionable 10-15 year vision for the future of technology and what it will feel like to live in the future. His work is called "futurecasting" -- using ethnographic field studies, technology research, trend data, and even science fiction to provide a pragmatic vision of consumers and computing. Johnson works with governments, militaries, trade organizations, start-ups and multinational corporations to help them envision their future. He was appointed first futurist ever at the Intel Corporation in 2009.

Johnson speaks and writes extensively about future technologies in articles (The Wall Street Journal, Slate, IEEE Computer, Successful Farming) and both science fiction and fact books (Vintage Tomorrows, Science Fiction Prototyping, Screen Future and Fake Plastic Love). Johnson lectures around the world and teaches as a professor at the University of Washington and the California College of the Arts MBA program. He appears regularly on Bloomberg TV, PBS, FOX News, and the Discovery Channel and has been featured in Scientific American, The Technology Review, Forbes, INC, and Popular Science. He has directed two feature films and is an illustrator and commissioned painter.

About Maker MediaMaker Media is a global platform for connecting makers with each other, with products and services, and with our partners. Through media, events and ecommerce, Maker Media serves a growing community of makers who bring a DIY mindset to technology. Whether as hobbyists or professionals, makers are creative, resourceful and curious, developing projects that demonstrate how they can interact with the world around them. The launch of MAKE Magazine in 2005, followed by Maker Faire in 2006, jumpstarted a worldwide Maker Movement, which is transforming innovation, culture and education. Located in Sebastopol, CA, Maker Media is the publisher of MAKE Magazine and the producer of Maker Faire. It also develops "getting started" kits and books that are sold in its Maker Shed store as well as in retail channels.

Contact Information

To request a review copy or an interview with the author, contact:Gretchen Giles
Publicist
Maker MediaEmail Contact707.570.7887